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—"Something happened to you?"
—"No. Nothing happened to me. That's my history. Have a stale potato chip."

A technicolor love letter to Venice. As a chronically single woman, I can confirm that Katharine Hepburn captures the feeling of summertime sadness and solitude so acutely—all the more because she's the cinematic embodiment of the fierce, independent female.

This feels like the Italian sibling of Rohmer's French fairy tale "The Green Ray." Minus the implied happily ever after.

I had to pause because I was laughing so hard at the "Klonopin sorbet" bit.

I really wanted to see this live with my parents (going to "The Old Man and the Pool" together after making it through the pandemic was so special) but health issues got in the way. Sadly fitting given the themes here. But whether on stage or beamed into my living room, Mike Birbiglia is one of my favorite storytellers.

My friend warned me that this was disturbingly timely, but I was in no way prepared for Andy Griffith's laugh. Leave it to Elia Kazan to foretell our national nightmare.

Also shocking: young Walter Matthau was a babe?

I saw an advance screening at the Angelika with the Jane Austen Society of North America (yes, I'm a nerd), featuring a talkback with French writer/director Laura Piani and actress Camille Rutherford. Perfect crowd for experiencing this rom-com confection.

We certainly have a surplus of Austen retellings and homages of late. For me, the ones that stand out—and stand on their own two feet—honor the spirit of the source without being too reverent or precious. Piani's does just that, sending up Austen with affectionate irony and humor, in a voice all her own. It's a most *persuasive* love letter to/defense of the rom-com as an art form, especially for the Anne Elliots and Catherine Morlands among us. As Piani said, "Agathe contains all the people that I love that are dreamers but that are blocked."

Here's to female-driven feature film debuts, and to clever (if clumsy) heroines who dance among the bookshelves.

PS: this does for vomit what Autumn de Wilde's "Emma." did for nosebleeds.

Gangster noir boxer dramedy with fascist underpinnings and Cinecittà standing in for NYC. Talk about a fascinating social document. My teacher smartly noted the paradox of using Hollywood film style/techniques to deliver an anti-American message.

I'm eager to rewatch Rocco and His Brothers. And I should probably see Raging Bull while I'm at it...

I saw this when I was in high school and for some reason it didn't really make an impression. I'm glad I revisited it with my theater friends. The dialogue. The delivery. The divas. It's catty catnip. Bette Davis is fire and music, and Thelma Ritter is SASS.

Now I really need to watch Applause. (I found a clip of Lauren Bacall's big number at the gay bar and it is pure camp.) Followed by The Lady Eve and The Three Faces of Eve.

Certified dysfunctional family viewing for over/Easter weekend.

Pure entertainment. (Then again, I'll watch any Agatha Christie adaptation, so maybe take my rec with a grain of salt.) Killer costumes and flawless makeup (keep an eye on those compacts)... Plus Anjelica Huston being a queen. Also, nice to see Mimi Keene getting a role she could sink her teeth into.

The sequence with the deep sea divers is horrific. Otherwise, it's mawkish melodrama.

Part of my deep dive into Italian fascist propaganda films of the 1930s.

PS: "Gemma Bolognesi" is my new stage name.

The final film in my "Cried While Watching on the Flight Back from Italy" marathon.

Perfect script, perfect cast (from leads to character actors), perfect anti-fascist pick-me-up. For some reason, I always tell myself it's overrated, but then I rewatch it and , no it's that damn good.

Also: how lucky are we to have not one but *two* Humphrey Bogart/Peter Lorre/Sydney Greenstreet vehicles? (See The Maltese Falcon)

Again. Cried while watching on the flight back from Italy.

I read the book way back when it came out (hits different post-pandemic), but I'm still not sure how I feel about The Twist.

Cried while watching on the flight back from Italy. Whoopsie daisies.

A quirky, meta conceit with some fun moments, but I wish it leaned in harder to the Felliniano flights of fancy and satire. Chiara reminded me of Alba Rohrwacher's character cosplaying as Monica Vitti in "Mi fanno male i capelli."

In any case, a fitting choice for my flight to Bologna.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Monday March 24, 2025.

I pledged to watch all of Éric Rohmer's Contes des quatre saisons/Tales of the Four Seasons this year, in their respective seasons—easiest resolution I've ever made.

Just a few of this installment's many charms:
Ambivalent brunette heroine with a gorgeous pixie cut
Fast female friends
Week-long sleepovers
Impromptu piano recitals
Excellent sweaters and scarves
Fresh-cut flowers and floral wallpaper
Philosophical dinnertime discussions
Age gap romance (it was hard for me to get past Igor's helmet hair, but then he asked for consent three times in a row, so sweet and so smooth...)
Speaking of the number three: fairy tales
A potentially purloined necklace

The ending guts me every time, like "Splendor in the Grass." Come to think of it, both films share a lot of common elements: titles taken from poignant poems, repressed and oppressed women reclaiming their agency from overbearing matriarchs—with the help of a kind psychiatrist and an idyllic asylum (nervous breakdowns never looked better)—and bittersweet love stories that defy the conventional Hollywood happily-ever-after. Also, very good hats.

Q&A with director Audrey Lam, curator of the BAM series "Aisles and Isles."

This wasn't what I expected, but once I caught onto the visual tone poem cadence I found a lot to appreciate as my attention ebbed and flowed: especially the evocative wordplay in the narration, and the use of angles and archicture.

I loved Lam's comment about the parallels between libraries and movie theaters as sacred spaces of both intimacy and solitude.

I'm late to log this in, but it's in no way a reflection of my enjoyment.

Anti-Oscar night screening on my friend's dope projector. Somehow this was only my second Lynch movie, after Mulholland Drive, and I was surprised by how surreal yet still satisfying the narrative was. I guess I'm a simpleton and I like a well paced plot? Still plenty of bizarre non-sequitors and grotesque imagery.

And the award for best ugly crying goes to...Laura Dern.

I could really go for some pretzel sticks and Nutella.

Also, fun fact: if you mash up the names Harris Dickinson and Woody Harrelson you get "Harris Harrelson" and "Woody Dickinson."

OK. Actual halfway intelligent review: it was interesting to watch this soon after revisting Swept Away and while in the middle of season 3 of The White Lotus. Some big laughs at the expen$e of the rich. (The seasickness sequence made me flashback to Mr. Creosote in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, which can only be a compliment.) I felt that the three-act structure was a little lopsided in of pacing, though.

Thus concludes my Bridget Jones marathon weekend.

Overstays its welcome at little, but it has its moments. The diary becoming a love letter to the late Mr. Darcy was sweet. (Also, their kids have solid taste in music: David Bowie, The Clash, the score from Oliver!) Nice to see the gang back together, especially Emma Thompson as the put-upon OB/GYN, and Hugh Grant as the playboy babysitter. Love that his son is an Italian Casanova.

Emma Thompson!

So much more watchable than #2.

"Please be wearing the giant panties."

(As bad as I ed—maybe even worse. Except for that line delivery by Hugh Grant.)

This hits different as a 30-something "spinster & lunatic."

when it was this huge controversy that an American actress was cast as a quintessential British heroine? What the hell was wrong with us? Zellweger/Jones is flawless for all her flaws. Some jokes aged really badly (the fat-shaming, etc.), but it's so damn charming. The meta casting of Firth as a modern Darcy and Grant as the Wickham type: genius.

I'm afraid to revisit the sequels and to watch the new movie, but here goes...

Sick-day viewing. I was talking about Elijah Wood the other day with friends, and it made me think of this childhood favorite. I ed the kid emancipation/globe-trotting plot and Bruce Willis as the enigmatic Easter Bunny/guardian angel (kinda like Sean Connery in "Time Bandits") but I didn't realize Rob Reiner directed. Also, the co-stars and cameos are weirdly stacked.

So, did it live up to my memory? Ehhh... some fun jokes, but there's A LOT of cultural and ethnic stereotyping (early '90s, still zero excuse). And the ending is a cop-out. Perhaps this one's best left on the ash heap of childhood VHS tapes. Next time I'll stick to that undisputed Rob Reiner sickbed masterpiece: "The Princess Bride."

Watched on Saturday February 1, 2025.

Watched on Saturday February 8, 2025.

Watched on Thursday February 6, 2025.

Someone recommended this to me because I love The Lady Vanishes, and they definitely share similar DNA in of the murder to laughter ratio. Alastair Sim's pompous detective shtick is great. The final act is beyond implausible, but that's what makes it fun—gives the term "operating theater" new meaning.

Screening at Brooklyn Museum, followed by a Q&A with Kaphar and Holland.

I'm interested in directors who come to filmmaking from different artforms/media. The way Kaphar uses his paintings in his feature film debut is both tactile and symbolic. He keeps us aware of the fact that we're spectators witnessing a very personal and painful testimony. In doing so, he asks us to withhold judgment as we take in the big picture of this family's trauma. The dialogue felt a little overwrought at time, but the performances are powerful regardless.

Italian class outing. So great to see this on the big screen and collectively experience the moment when the uproarious class/sex comedy turns to violence. Still as unsettling as the first time I saw it. The idyllic island setting and the beautiful bodies only serve to heighten that discomfort.

A friend recommended this to me years ago and I finally watched. I laughed out loud several times at how relatable and insightful it all felt. Anxiety is more of a daily reality for me than depression, but it's all in the family. (Literally. It all runs in my family.)

I loved when he rattled off the various meds he's tried, turning it into a Seussian rhyme. Also the bit about the "60 Minutes" ticking clock traumatizing him as a child...being bullied over ordering Sprite...so many fun specifics.

His delivery is deceptively straightforward and conversational, and then he'll surprise with an SAT-level word choice that's just so *apt* (at one point he overpronounces that very word and for some reason it's hilarious). I also appreciated the mini documentary scenes woven throughout, with his mom, his wife, and his psychiatrist. It humanized the whole experience of mental illness for people who may not be familiar. As his mom would say, "Must be nice..."

Looking forward to seeing Gulman perform live in February.

Tart and sweet like a cranberry. It was especially poignant to watch after experiencing a personal loss this week.

My second viewing, and I'm still struck by the precise pacing of the reveal and the distinct color palette/saturation in the flashbacks.

I picked up a copy of the Ferrante book in Bologna years ago. About time I read it—very slowly, and with an Italian dictionary on hand.

Interesting to see this soon after La Dolce Vita. While it's on a much smaller scale, it has a similar emotional palette: melancholy and meditative. Lots of F Scott Fitzgerald novels are featured, but the story mostly reminded me of his essay "The Crack-Up."

And now I will dream about James Norton and Bill Nighy handling my eggs...

In all seriousness, this was a pleasant, quiet biopic (bio as in "biographical" and "biological"). I have absolutely no interest in becoming a mother, so the story didn't tug at my tubes (sorry!) the way it might other viewers, but I enjoyed the understated performances. (I will watch Nighy in anything.) The discussion of reproductive choice couldn't be more timely, but it never gets soapboxy. I'm curious to read up about the real Jean Purdy, which is a tribute to Thomasin McKenzie's smart and grounded portrayal.

Another fitting New Year's film. A moving homage to Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale," it could also be titled "All's Well That Ends Well." Although, I feel a bit bad for the friendzoned librarian, Loïc.

How perfect to have frequent Rohmer collaborator Marie Rivière make a cameo. I actually gasped.

One resolution I'm confident I can keep this year is to watch each of Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons (I've already seen "Autumn"). I love the way he stages these moments of epiphany and clarity that feel so organic and earned.

This ended up being the perfect New Year's Eve rewatch. A tuba rendition of Auld Lang Syne, Jean Arthur being her sweet and sassy self, and right around midnight I got to kiss Gary Cooper vicariously.

There are a few heavy-handed Capra monologues, and the love poem is bordering on cringe—but then Deeds runs away in a fit of bashfulness and trips over multiple garbage cans, so comedy prevails.

How in hell did they have the audacity to remake this with Adam Sandler?

I almost turned this off at the 20-minute mark. I'm glad I stuck with it. I when I first read the book, I thought there was no way it could be made into a movie. The mystery isn't the driving force here—it's internal. The reader's experience of being inside Aza's head as she gets mired in her germophobic thought spirals and compulsions is so intense and particular. And the film tries to capture that with voiceover and graphics, with varying success. (The scene in the hospital with her staring in the mirror, shot like a horror movie, hits the mark.) But I think the tentative teen love story is the most moving aspect, and that's down to the performances.

Sidenote: seeing the credits for on-set Covid safety personnel was very on-theme. I don't want to think about how Aza would have weathered the pandemic.

The Lubitsch touch grounded in genuine emotion, and somehow it all seems understated and effortless. Each time I watch, it feels like I'm being addressed by a "Dear Friend."

PS: I always forget that the cheating wife is named Emma.

A weird little friends-to-lovers rom-com from 2013, which feels like a century ago.

The best parts:
-Fridge magnet poetry meet-cute
-A "Princess Bride" screening
-Animated interstitials
-Diner banter
-Zoe Kazan

I have to confess this was my first viewing. Worth experiencing on the big screen. From everything I'd heard, and from the few clips I'd seen of Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain, I expected this to be a sleek and sexy '60s romp. I should have known with Fellini there would be a strong undercurrent of despair. His party scenes are always a trip: seductive and chilling. And this felt like one extended episodic portrait of a man-child who overstays his welcome at the party, as it transforms from glamour to grotesquery.

Part of the Marcello Mastroianni centenary series at MoMA. I went with my friend from Italian class and we happened to run into *another* classmate. And also my cousin!

The 1978 "Heaven Can Wait" is still my favorite afterlife rom-com, but this was very enjoyable. And both feature Buck Henry!

A clever concept with a likable lead. I see a lot of reviewers balking at the idea of a Meryl Streep falling for an Albert Brooks, but for some reason their rapport felt natural to me. Also it gave me hope that if/when I die alone, I'll still have a shot at meeting a nice funny Jewish guy.

This was a fitting Jewish Christmas movie: safe and cozy and nostalgic and, ultimately, anodyne. The performances (musical and dramatic) are all fine, but it has that unmistakable biopic sheen. We hear clips of the breaking news—war (civil and global), and protests, and JFK's assassination—yet none of it feels all that urgent or unsettling.

I did like how Bob and Sylvie (Suze) watched "Now, Voyager" on their first date.

My colleague recommended I watch "Desk Set" ages ago but I couldn't find it anywhere—until last night. TCM Christmas programming for the win.

Those Ephrons sure knew how to write timeless and timely holiday rom-coms. If only I could feel more optimistic and less terrified about AI.

Renée Zellweger as Barbara Novak is the OG Barbie. With the wardrobe and mid-century mod dream house to prove it.

I hadn't seen this one since I was a teen, and wow does it hold up. A clever and kitschy valentine to the Rock Hudson/Doris Day sex comedies, with a sly twist that I'd completely forgotten about.

Excuse me while I eat all the chocolate and replay those split screens in my mind.

Released just a few months after W.S. Van Dyke's crime comedy masterpiece "The Thin Man," and featuring a lot of the same faces: Maureen O'Sullivan, Harold Huber, and (my favorite) Edward Brophy. Also with Robert Montgomery, Edward Arnold, Elizabeth Patterson, and a young Mickey Rooney (annoying but not unwatchable).

Thin on plot and character development, but a brisk, fun flick at barely over 80 minutes. Bonus: the nightclub musical number is so over-the-top 1930s, I couldn't stop laughing.

Oof. I forgot how eviscerating this is.

The pacing felt more tedious the second time around. Maybe that's owing to my own mental state at the moment. Also: it still really bothers me that the filmmakers didn't credit Ann Goldstein for her exquisite work in translating the Italian novel to the English language in the first place. #NameTheTranslator

Looking forward to discussing with my classmates in the context of the larger Elena Ferrante/Alba Rohrwacher cinematic universe.

More thoughts in my essay from a few years back, on the challenges of adaptating and translating female interiority from page to screen:
electricliterature.com/misreading-and-mind-reading-in-persuasion-and-the-lost-daughter

Alba Rohrwacher and Valeria Golino in a story of fraught mother-daughter relationships, directed by Laura Bispuri—I'd say this is an honorary member of the Elena Ferrante cinematic universe (and not just because of the overlapping cast and creative team). The characters aren't as complex as Ferrante's, but I still appreciated the tense psychological study.

The tomb robbing subplot also made me think of "La Chimera" (love those Rohrwachers). I was holding my breath as soon as I saw il buco. Now that I think about it, that's some potent maternal symbolism right there.

Essay research.

Some interesting tidbits about the real-life artists and photographers whose work is either featured in or influenced Blow-Up . But overall, it's very tame and composed, and just feels at odds with the bold spirit of the film.

I usually avoid sitting in the front row at movies. I hate being that close to the screen. But last night, I got in off the waitlist to see a Metrograph screening, followed by a Q&A with writer/director/comic genius Elaine May and editors Phillip Schopper and Jeffrey Wolf. So I really can't kvetch.

I'd heard so much about this film from family and friends in the business—some who'd even worked on it. The chaotic production. The million feet of footage that May shot. The even more chaotic post-production. And I adore May (both as a solo force and alongside Mike Nichols). But somehow I'd never seen this. Not bad for a first-time viewing.

May is sharp as ever. She spoke about the real-life gangster brothers who inspired the story: "It was like a Greek tragedy." (The project actually started out as a one-act play when she was at Second City.) And, yes, she told her of the lawsuit and the missing film (she claims she had no idea where it was until after the fact—her husband had given it to a friend to hide), and a surprising call from Mario Puzo. A gangster movie behind a gangster movie...

She also revealed the one bit of improv in the otherwise scripted Method performances: as Cassavetes lights up a cigarette, a background actress says, "No smoking on the bus!" (Falk was furious. It took him three takes to realize that May had told her to speak.)

Most of all, it was striking to see this pitch black comedy about staring death in the face presented by the 92-year-old embodiment of chutzpah.

*
Favorite lines:
"I came as soon as I got your towel."

"You make us sound like a couple of cemetery freaks."

"Nick, you're making me forget the kaddish."

Movies about movies (or theater, etc.)

• Sherlock Jr.
• Singin' in the Rain
• Day for Night
• Sullivan's Travels
• Living in Oblivion
• 8½
• Bellissima
• Barton Fink
• The Player
• The Lady Without Camelias

...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Self-explanatory

• My Man Godfrey
• Twentieth Century
• The Awful Truth
• The Lady Eve
• The More the Merrier
• Ball of Fire
• Arsenic and Old Lace
• It Happened One Night
• Trouble in Paradise
• Design for Living

...plus 44 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Memorable movies from my Film e Conversazione class

• Bicycle Thieves
• Illustrious Corpses
• Teresa the Thief
• Deep Red
• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
• The Gold of Naples
• Big Deal on Madonna Street
• Rome: Free City
• L'Avventura
• La Notte

...plus 187 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Locomotion pictures

• Twentieth Century
• The General
• The Lady Vanishes
• The 39 Steps
• Saboteur
• Shadow of a Doubt
• Strangers on a Train
• North by Northwest
• Murder on the Orient Express
• Cat Ballou

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

"Nazis. I hate these guys."

• The Great Dictator
• To Be or Not to Be
• Foreign Correspondent
• The Lady Vanishes
• Night Train to Munich
• Saboteur
• Casablanca
• The Stranger
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks
• The Boys from Brazil

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Age of Innocence
• The Lost Daughter
• The Diary of a Teenage Girl
• Ciao, Professore!
• Smooth Talk
• Nightmare Alley
• Contempt
• Drive My Car
• The Thin Man
• Nightmare Alley

...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Disciples of the Master of Suspense

• Gaslight
• Charade
• Witness for the Prosecution
• Diabolique
• The Third Man
• Foul Play
• High Anxiety
• The Prize
• Deep Red
• Ministry of Fear

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Mother
• Ruby Sparks
• Maggie's Plan
• Theodora Goes Wild
• Little Women
• Their Finest
• My Favorite Year
• In a Lonely Place
• Sunset Boulevard
• The Third Man

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Wolf Man
• Ladyhawke
• 13 Ghosts
• Mark of the Vampire
• Sherlock Holmes
• Casino Royale
• Stranger on the Third Floor
• Murder, He Says
• Dead Again
• The Two Mrs. Carrolls

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In which the Ravishing Kay Francis gets caught up with a jewel thief.

• Jewel Robbery
• Trouble in Paradise
• Raffles
• The Goose and the Gander

Feline flix 😸🐾

• Gay Purr-ee
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• The Aristocats
• When the Cat Comes
• The Cat o' Nine Tails
• Puss in Boots
• That Darn Cat
• Cat People
• Tom and Jerry: The Movie
• Wonder Woman 1984

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies my dad worked on (behind the camera)

• Witness
• New York Stories
• Heartburn
• Igby Goes Down
• Sleepaway Camp
• Prizzi's Honor
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
• The Paper
• Legal Eagles
• Wild Things

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.